Maple Leafs Thrive Without Auston Matthews, Former GM Brian Burke Mockingly Suggests: Trade Him!

Brian Burke was the Maple Leafs GM from 2009 until 2013 and was often criticized for the moves he made, such as trading for Phil Kessel (not a terrible trade at the time) but the draft picks he sent to Boston turned into Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton. His friendship with former coach Ron Wilson also led to some turmoil as he stayed around longer than he should have.

After his career as an NHL executive, Burke; who is now Executive Director of the PWHLPA has taken time to speak to various podcasts, media outlets, and reporters about his thoughts about his time as GM, the current state of the NHL, and more.

Appearing on Leafs Morning Take, hosted by former Maple Leafs defenseman Jay Rosehill and Nick Alberga, Burke took the time to give his thoughts of the Maple Leafs in 2024 and their success without their captain against Boston. Burke offered a solution that could solve all of Toronto's issues right now:

Trade Auston Matthews.

Burke delivered the statement with a chuckle right after, as both hosts also found the incredulous idea of trading Matthews humorous.

While it would be absurd to see Toronto and Matthews separate, there is no denying that Toronto seems to find some extra spark without their superstar. The team is 36-19-2 without Matthews and often sees players get into second and third gear out of nowhere. It's puzzling why Toronto can't keep the same energy when Matthews is on the ice, perhaps indicative of how much the team relies on Matthews to be a catalyst.

They have several other offensive weapons they can use and it shouldn't just be up to Matthews to pull the rope as Burke mentioned. Yes, you want Matthews to score but you have at least three other players capable of 75+ points, you have a blossoming power forward who will be the next Chris Kreider; not to mention Max Pacioretty's ability to score in bunches. It's no excuse why they can't play this hard every night.

Toronto is never going to trade Auston Matthews, this much is certain. But maybe they can find a way to take a minute or two off his nightly shifts and distribute them elsewhere and tell the team "Matthews isn't here. Do your job."